EXXON ORDERED TO PAY $4.5BN FOR VALDEZ SPILL

An Alaskan court under judge Russell Holland has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay $4.5bn in punitive damages and $2.25bn in interest in connection with the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. A jury had originally awarded $5bn in punitive damages in the case, but that figure was subsequently reduced to $4bn. Last August a US appeals court ordered judge Holland to review the damage figure in light of a US Supreme Court ruling that restricted the level of punitive damages. Exxon Mobil said that it would appeal his latest ruling. The energy company has already paid more than $300m on a voluntary basis to 11,000 Alaskan residents and businesses hurt by the disaster. The spill of 11m gallons of oil spoiled more than 1,000 miles of coastline and resulted in the deaths of thousands of birds and sea mammals.